CANTON – The state swim meet has arrived, and a select group of local swimmers from Galion and Colonel Crawford will represent Crawford County at the event, which begins with the Division II preliminary round Thursday at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton.

For Galion, Sam DeNero will compete individually in the boys 50- and 100-yard freestyles and as part of the boys 200 free relay team, alongside Sam Rigdon, Chad Karnes and Luke Eisnaugle. Lucas Connor is on standby as the team's alternate.

"I'm honored — I love going to state," DeNero said. "I definitely would feel left out if I didn't make it because I've made it the past years."

DeNero is making his third trip to the meet in as many years. He finished third in the 50 free last year, setting a school record with a mark of 21.38 seconds.

"Sam's got a good chance of making the podium again — he's made it two years in a row," Galion coach Ted Temple said.

While capping his career as a Tiger with a gold medal would be nice, DeNero said his primary goal is to improve his times, ideally hitting the 20-second mark in his 50 free.

"I just like to improve," he said. "I want to beat my time and break my personal record."

He didn't break his record last weekend at districts, but his 21.50 in the 50 free was still good enough to top the Northwest District and earn him the No. 4 seed at state.

In the 100 free, DeNero notched a 47.38, which is tied for the 10th seed.

"I feel special, but I've worked hard every year since my freshman year to be where I am, so I'm proud of that," DeNero said. "I couldn't do it without my teammates, either, because they push me also."

Speaking of teammates, Karnes, Eisnaugle and Rigdon aren't too shabby either — especially when swimming with each other alongside DeNero.

"What's unique about it is the two seniors (DeNero and Karnes), of course, but we have two freshmen who are making it with them this year," Temple said of his boys 200 free relay team.

"That's a little different than what we've the last four years of going to state."

At districts, the quartet finished the event with a time of 1:31.20, setting a school record. They are seeded 19th for state.

"If they break their own record that they set at districts last weekend, they have a good chance to make the finals," Temple said.

Like DeNero, Karnes also is making his third trip to state.

"It's an accomplishment," Temple said. "Hopefully we can carry on the tradition starting next year with our freshmen and sophomores."

A handful of miles northwest of Galion in North Robinson, Colonel Crawford will ship four girls to Canton for state.

The quartet of Madison Sharp, Megan Lyons, Callie Ruffener and Chloe Grove will race in both the girls 200 and the 400 free relays.

"It's been quite a while (since we've had girls qualify for state), I think it was close to maybe 10 years ago," CC coach Mike Holtzapfel said.

In the 200 free relay, the crew swam a 1.41.51 at districts to earn the No. 15 seed.

"I think that we're all really excited and kind of humbled by it at the same time," said Lyons, who is a senior. "We knew (qualifying for state) was a possibility, but we knew we'd have to work really hard all season to be able to do it."

In their other event, Holtzapfel's girls finished in 3.44.72 at districts, notching them the 21st seed in the 400 free. That time also shaved four seconds off the previous school record.

"We dropped a lot of time last week at districts, and we really want to get to finals," said Sharp, a sophomore.

Though none of the girls have state swimming experience, Ruffener, who is a junior, has been to state in track and field. She finished fourth in the Division III girls pole vault last year.

That said, this is a different experience for her.

"This is very new to me," she said. "None of the other girls have gone, and I've never even gone to the state swimming meet, so it's just really exciting."

Despite the lack of state experience, Grove said the magnitude of the meet isn't affecting her.

"I'm just hoping we have a good time and maybe get a record best again at state," she said. "I don't know, I'm not too worried about it anymore — I'm just enjoying this last week."

On top of taking in the experience and having fun, the girls' No. 1 goal is to make the final round on Friday. Doing that will help set a precedent for things to come.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg — we have more girls coming behind what you're seeing," Holtzapfel said.

"I'm not going to promise we get to state every year, but we have really good talent coming. It's exciting to see it, and a lot of these kids I've seen since they were babies and may have started them in swimming, and it's fun to see them grow up."

The Division II prelims begin at 5 p.m. and will have a 15-minute break after the 100 fly. The finals also will be at 5 p.m. Friday.